Imbalance power is a concept that is known in the technical literature, and is a magnitude which quantifies the effects of the phenomenon of imbalance in electrical facilities. Different formulations have been developed for this imbalance power—taking into account different theories established on electrical power—which only give its magnitude, a real number. The imbalance power is not conservative, in other words, it does not obey the Principle of Conservation of Energy, and therefore the imbalance power of an electrical facility is not equal to the sum of the imbalance powers corresponding to each of its component elements. This greatly limits and hinders its application for the measurement of the effects of imbalances in industrial practice.
The formulation of the imbalance power in complex form is not known in the technical literature at the present moment. This magnitude, which has been referred as the “imbalance power phasor” by the authors of this invention, permits the value of the imbalance power to be determined in any electrical facility by knowing the imbalances of its component parts. The system and method of measurement that are claimed permit this function to be carried out.
Moreover, calibrators of measurement instruments for the imbalance power formed by passive elements are not known in industrial practice.